[Terrapreta] translation of Francisco de Orellano's journal

[Gerald Van Koeverden]

For those interested in reading Francisco de Orellano's journal on  
his trip to the Amazonian valley, a digital English translation is  
now available.

"Expeditions Into the Valley of the Amazons, 1539, 1540, 1639" By  
Clements Robert Markham, Garcilaso de la Vega, Antonio de

http://books.google.co.uk/books? 
id=mWcMAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA21&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=0_0#PPP5,M1

A brief overview of Orellana's Amazonian adventures:

Orellana went as second-in-command of the large expedition in 1541.  
The explorers marched in good order until reaching the Napo River, an  
Amazon tributary, where food ran low. Orellana either volunteered or  
was ordered by Pizarro to go farther down the river with a hastily  
constructed boat and about 60 men to bring back food from a place  
where friendly Indians reported it to be plentiful. Orellana did  
obtain food and then, whether by his own decision or compelled by  
subordinates, decided to follow the main Amazon, now close at hand,  
to the Atlantic. No one had traversed the river before, but its size  
convinced the Spaniards that it must emerge at the ocean. Controversy  
has long gone on as to Orellana's guilt, but the general verdict is  
that he had intended to desert from the time of leaving Gonzalo.

The adventurers proceeded to the Amazon mouth and then to the Spanish  
island of Cubagua, which they reached early in September 1542. Many  
of them then went to Peru, but Orellana traveled to Spain by way of  
Trinidad, Santo Domingo, and Portugal.

During their descent of the Amazon, Orellana's Spaniards underwent  
frequent attacks by Indians, and in one region women fought and  
surpassed males in valor. Gaspar de Carvajal, chaplain of the  
expedition, describes the women as being very white and tall and  
doing as much fighting as 10 Indian men. Such formidable strength  
brought to mind the Amazons of Greek mythology, and the Spaniards  
gave this name to their land; only afterward was "Amazon" gradually  
applied to the river.

In Spain, Orellana sought and obtained a concession to explore and  
govern New Andalusia, meaning roughly the land south of the great  
river. He sailed from Sanlúcar on May 11, 1545, with a poorly  
equipped fleet and accompanied by his wife, Ana de Ayala, whom he had  
married in Spain. But Orellana died of sickness and fatigue about  
November 1546, and the fleet went to pieces. Some survivors,  
including Ana, were rescued later at the island of Margarita.

http://www.answers.com/topic/francisco-de-orellana

Gerrit
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